Focus

I realized the other day I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the things I need to stop doing.  After lunch I would think about not eating chocolate... but then I would.  Stopping in the grocery store, I would think about not buying something that would get me off track... but then I would.  I'd plan on not staying up too late... and in a blink of an eye I was going to bed 2 hours later than I wanted to.  These are the things that frustrate me and I couldn't figure out how to stop the trend.  The next day, I would do the exact same thing.  The more I repeated, the more focused I got to NOT do something.
It's amazing when you focus on something it tends to come true.  Whether you meant to do them or not.  I began to think back to January when I was starting my journey out.  Kendra empathized that I should focus on adding certain foods.  Slowly, I focused on making sure to get lots of proteins, healthy fats, and even more of the dreaded veggies.  I would plan out what I was eating for the week and have everything cooked on Sunday for the first half of the week and Wednesday for the second half.  I focused on journaling what and when I was eating and how I was feeling.  With all my focus on the positive changes I was successful!

Somewhere my focus shifted to the negative, but now I'm aware of the change.  I've already laid out of plan to get back on track by focusing on the positive changes.  :)

This past weekend I competed in my very first Crossfit competition.  It was the Northeast Garage Games hosted by Crossfit Southie.  It was a crazy weekend!  There were 6 Crossfit Route 1 athletes competing and I was pumped to be one of them.  The competition was a total of 5 workouts over 2 days.  Saturday's WODs kicked off with Snatchballs, followed by WhiteBulger, and finally Spiderman to wrap up the day.  I was excited for Snatchballs because it consisted of snatches and wall balls at a light weight for me.  I finished in 30th place out of 58! 

Heading into the last workout of the day I was nervous.  It involved 4 rounds of 20 reps of 20" box jumps, 15 pull ups, and 10 push ups.  Eleven months ago, I was barely jumping on a 12" box, couldn't even do 1 pull up with the thickest band, and I definitely couldn't do "real" push ups.  With the support of my family, friends, and CFRT1 family I worked hard for 15 minutes...  Took a major spill in my 4th round of box jumps... just got back up and continued.  Struggled getting my pull ups... I was lucky enough to have Kendra and Coach J there to push me talk me through them efficiently.  It was the hardest 15 minutes I've pushed myself through and it felt amazing... when I finished :)  I hit the 15 minute time cap with just 18 reps left.  I couldn't have asked for anything better!  In less then a year I focused on learning to do pull ups, getting my push ups strong, and building my mental strength for box jumps.  I never wavered on that focus and it paid off! 

Day 2 I knew I just had to complete the GI Joe WOD to finish up my first competition!  I was excited for this workout because it involved running.  The one thing I knew how to do before starting crossfit.  It turns out when you add a 25lb sandbag to running it's not easy!!!  I actually found the running to be harder than the overhead squats, situps, jump roping and then more situps and overhead squats.  I had a lot of fun doing it though and even had a great judge to make it fun :)

After an awesome weekend of seeing the positive results of staying crossfit focused, I'm excited to refocus my nutrition to get the same results!

Crossfit Family

It's been awhile since my last post... Sorry about that, but life has been nuts. I've really been struggling the past couple months to make my journey of health a priority. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has happened to. Sometimes it's easier to eat the chocolate outside your office, stop and grab pizza on the way home, or have one too many pudding shots ;). With that said, none of these things give me the results I want, make me feel good, or make me happy. So why have I and so many other people who struggle with nutrition give in? That's a great question, if you have the answer I would love to hear it.

The one thing that I do know is that I can make excuses all day long, but in the end it's up to me to change it. A part of me is scared that if I do get back on track, I won't have the results I want. Or if I do get down to the weight I want, I still won't feel like I've accomplished anything. Logically I realize this doesn't make sense, but emotionally I've been there. In 2003, I lost 45lbs and was the "skinniest" I've ever been at 144lbs. I was wearing a size 8 and was on top of the world. I even started to train for my first marathon. Yet, I still felt I had weight to lose and obsessed over WW points. I began to sabotage myself.  When I felt I was having a "bad day," I would eat every high point food I could find all while thinking "I'll start again tomorrow." I honestly believe my emotions of still feeling overweight, was what caused me to over eat to catch my body up with where I saw myself. Not healthy, I know.

Flash forward to today... I've finally found a lifestyle that has changed the way I look at food and understand what my body needs to perform at its best. But yet for the past few months, I haven't allowed myself to benefit from this lifestyle. The same habits have come back... Oh I already had chocolate today, so I can have some more and start over tomorrow. Or I had a crappy day at work and I need a piece of pizza to make me feel better. I actually caught myself thinking these things. The scary thing is that pizza doesn't make me feel better; it makes me feel like crap and then makes me mad that I couldn't say no.

At this point you must be thinking... "What does this have to do with Crossfit Family?" Well over this past year, even though my nutrition has faltered my new family has not. Three to four times a week I go to Crossfit Route 1 to give every last ounce of effort I have to that day's WOD (work out of the day). But that's not the only thing I get from my box. I have developed a second family. It's a place where you are instantly friends with everyone there whether you've meet them before or not.  After awhile, you begin to learn people's strengths, weaknesses, and goals.  You want them to succeed as much as you want yourself to succeed.  How many of you hug the people you work out with when leaving an event?  It's now a normal occurrence for me when leaving my new family.

I often forget that my fellow crossfitters have their own struggles as well. I've gotten so wrapped up in trying to succeed with my weight loss goal that I was missing the bigger picture. I forgot the feeling of "I can do anything" I had at the beginning of the year when I was on track with nutrition. The thing is I'm still improving even now when I'm not losing weight. I also forgot that not everyone's goal is to lose weight. They focus on nutrition just for better health and better results with their Crossfit performance. I forgot that not everyone event wants to eat Paleo. Some are fighting injuries, some are trying to break through plateaus, and some are brand new and learning they can do things they never thought possible.

The thing is if we were all the same, we would never grow. We need the weird people that attend 6am classes... We need the people who want to do competitions and those who want nothing to do with them. We need the people focused on nutrition and those who are focused on just surviving the WOD. People have good days and bad days, but there is always someone there to support you and cheer you on. I can always rely on my Crossfit Route 1 family to keep me motivated and bring things into prospective. For that, I am forever thankful.

So even though I seem to have started to repeat history, I do firmly believe my fate will be different. I now have my family, my friends, and my Crossfit Route 1 family to help me succeed!

Ending the Vicious Cycle

For the past 7 years, I've considered myself a distance runner.  I completed 5 marathons, many half marathons, and countless 10K & 5K races.  Constant running lead to different injuries and frustration lead to poor nutrition.  The combination always leads to weight gain.  Every year I recovered and set my eyes on a new race thinking I would lose the weight while training.  Well... I trained and completed new races, but never lost the weight.  With each race completion a new injury would pop up starting the cycle all over again.

Last fall I found myself at my heaviest weight and starting to make excuses why not to work out that day.  IT WAS REALLY HARD!  I started making excuses not to run with my friends.  I just couldn't bring myself to move all that weight.  This plays a big toll on someone who thinks of themselves as an athlete who runs distances.  I did manage to get out and run a few 5Ks, but I wasn't comfortable (or happy) with the run.

October 2010

Fast forward to now.  With the combination of Crossift and the Paleo Lifestyle, I'm doing more than I ever thought I would.  Exploring new exercises, old ones, and definitely more intense combinations of those.  I've finally gotten back out running with my friends, but this weekend was the first real test of "Am I back?"  Sunday morning I completed the Run Gloucester 7 mile race.  Not only did I complete it, but I did it in an under 12 minute pace :)  Last October I struggled to keep a 13 minute pace in the 5K.  My friends were impressed (especially considering I haven't been doing a ton of running).  It felt great to be back on pace! 

August 2011

I have officially turned the tables on the vicious circle.  I know I'll continue to lose weight, gain speed, and feel confident.  Running races is becoming fun again and that's the whole point!

Exciting news!!!

In my last post about goals I mentioned I wanted to do a pull-up using the blue resistance band.  Wanted to give an update on that statement...

Last night a blue band was hanging from the bar, so I figured, why not try and see how I do.  I got my foot laced in and BAM, up I went!  I couldn't believe it.  With the suggestion of Emily... I moved on to the red band which is less resistance.  UP I WENT!!!

I skipped over a whole band of trying!  It's amazing the results you get when you focus on the steps to get there and not the outcome.  I would have never thought I'd be using a red band right now.

New goal.  Work towards the Purple band and build strength to start using the red band during WODs. :)

Goals and how to get there...

I've always known it was important to have short and long term goals.  This goes for all aspects of life... GE work, Pampered Chef work, health, financial, physical, and the list goes on.  I've always been very good at achieving "short" term goals, but somehow get lost in the long term without realizing it.  This past 8 months, I've grown in this area, with a lot of help from Kendra (my wellness coach), the awesome people (both coaches and members) at Crossfit Route 1, and believe it or not some of my Pampered Chef training.

The old Jenny would set goals... I am going to run the Boston Marathon and then I would do it.  The problem with that, is I wasn't looking past the marathon.  What happens when you over train and you injure your knees?  What is your plan once the race is over, is there another race?  Why did I want to run to begin with?  These are all questions that I would ignore and then when couple months had past after the marathon, I would start the cycle all over again.  Pick a new race to run and start from scratch.  Eventually I thought I could outsmart the break after a race and before I ran the Marine Corps marathon, I committed to running Marathon de Paris.  Turns out that was silly because I didn't address any of my other behaviors and I was injured by the time Paris came around.  Of course I still ran it :)

After five marathons, countless attempts to "start" eating healthy, and a rigorous gym schedule, I found myself at my heaviest weight and starting to slow down because everything was too hard. 

It's amazing how life gets you to where you need to be.  I was working a fair with my Pampered Chef table in Danvers and it was really slow.  I was bummed that I had spent a good amount of effort to get there and set up, for a small turn out.  I made the best of it and made friends with my neighboring booths.  The woman to the left of my booked a show and the woman to the right of me changed my life... It was Kendra.  I talked in my first post about how I got from trying out Merrimack Valley Family Chiropractic to Crossfit and Paleo, so I won't bore you with that story again.  Bottom line is, this is where I started learning the tools I needed to be successful!

At the beginning of the year, Kendra had me write down my goals.  She asked me to be as specific as possible with measurable results.  Then she took it a step farther and asked me to write down 3 actions I would do to achieve these goals and 3 actions I will stop doing that prevents me from achieving them.  This is where things clicked for me.  By focusing on my behaviors, I achieved my goals!!!  It was no longer about I have to complete X and I just need to push through to get there.  Now it was, I need to make my meals at the beginning of the week, so I'm not eating the first thing I see when I get home.  By focusing on the behaviors, I have achieved many goals already and I'm not done.  I don't feel the let down I used to after completing something.

Goals Achieved and New Ones Set!

I set goals at Crossfit Route 1 to focus on things I really wanted to achieve.  The first being a pull-up.  I know it's going to be awhile to get one without a resistance band, so I set my eyes on using the green band by my birthday.  I also decided I wanted to do a handstand and be able to hold it.  I had no idea if I would ever reach these goals (both seemed impossible before crossfit).  I did know that if I worked the skills my coaches and fellow members helped me with one day I would get there.  So I did.  Every day I would practice getting into a handstand before the workout started.  I would work my swings on the bar to increase my pull-up strength.  The best was when I realized I wrote "green band by June 1st" and it was June 1st.  I got the green band out and did a pull-up first try!!!  IT WAS THE BEST FEELING!!!  Same with the handstand... pretty sure I screamed and scared a few people in my excitement.

Now it's time to set new goals.  I now have my eyes on the blue band for pull-ups and after tonight's workout I need to focus on Double Unders (jump rope, rope passes under feet twice before landing).  It's taken me awhile to do 1, but I have that down now.  My goal is start doing them continuously and not double, single, double, single.  I want to be comfortable doing them in a WOD.  Today's workout was in memory of the military men and women who gave their lives this weekend to protect their country. 

6 Rounds

30 Dead Lifts 95#

30 Double Unders

30 Sit-ups

I had to do 30 Single Unders because I haven't gotten my DU to the point where I can do them in a WOD.  It really bothered me tonight because I was all over the DL and sit-ups, but felt I should honor these lives the best I could, and I know I can do better.  Every time I pick up a jump rope now, I will be thinking of that WOD to motivate me to work toward my next goal!

My final way to set goals is CLOTHES!  Gotta love fitting into something you haven't been able to wear in years.  I have a goal wall in my bedroom...

The pink shirt is a bit snug, so I'm hoping to be rocking it soon.  The dress is for a wedding at the end of September.  The shorts... those were a gift from Kendra.  They are from the Crossfit Games in California where Crossfit Route 1 took 17th place in the world!!!  Our team's number was 131 and they were awesome.  Those shorts will take me a bit to get into, but you need both the short term and the long term goals to keep you focused on behaviors. 

I'm really excited to have finally figured out it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  Take one challenge at a time and focus on the skills (or behaviors) to achieve your goal, not the goal itself.

Pampered Chef goes Paleo

The start of July brought two great things into my life... Pampered Chef National Conference in Chicago and Crossfit Route 1 30 Day Paleo Challenge!!! 

The Paleo Challenge, is just that... a challenge to eat Paleo.  The people at the gym who are participating start the day with 4 points.  If they eat something not Paleo they loose a point, eat another thing, that's another point and so on.  You can get 1 bonus point for getting 8 hours of sleep and another for attending a crossfit class.  You tally your points at the end of the week and track them on the board at Crossfit Route 1.   The person with the highest points at the end of the 30 days wins!  People can win in two other categories as well.  The first is the most weight lost and the second is most improved WOD (workout of the day) performance. 

Good news is that I'm a competitive person so these challenges really motivate me to stick to the program!  The toughest part of this challenge was heading to Chicago for a week for Pampered Chef National Conference.  This is my favorite time of year with PC because I get to hang out with all the great consultants I talk to through email year round.  The Pampered Chef also makes you feel so loved and that your potential is endless!  Along with the amazing friends and recognition comes many opportunities to stray from the Paleo Life Style, but I was prepared!

The first thing I did was bring food with me.  I made my Carrot Banana Muffins and froze them so they would keep for the whole week.  I packed protein powder, nuts, and almond butter as well.  When I arrived in Chicago, I hit up a store to get some blue berries and raspberries.  I was now ready for the week.  Every day I knew that I would be able to have Paleo friendly snacks throughout the day, so I wouldn't get starving and make bad choices.  I opted for the Gluten Free buffet option which was perfect.  I was able to get plenty of meat and veggies for breakfast and lunch.  Lunch time was hard because they leave a plate of desserts in front of you... in comes my Paleo muffins!  I got my dessert fix in and didn't mind not eating what was provided.

There are some amazing restaurants in Chicago.  I did allow myself to have some Chicago Pizza... felt gross after.  The rest of the time I enjoyed Fillet Minion & broccoli... Apricot Glazed Pork... a bacon burger with lettuce as the bun :)  My biggest down fall was coming back to the room where there was sweets.  I definitely need to tackle my sweet addiction because I gave in a couple times when I wasn't even hungry.  All in all though I was mighty proud of myself :)

I did make time to go to Atlas Crossfit the first day I was there.  It was cool checking out a different box and getting a great workout in before joining my PC ladies.  I was super pumped to PR (personal record) my max Press by 10lbs!!! 

My most favorite thing about this year, is not only getting motivated to grow my Pampered Chef business, but also to return to conference next year even healthier.  I received many compliments on my weight loss from other consultants and even friends on facebook after posting my pictures.  Thank you so much for your support and kind words!

Birthday Wishes & Things you NEVER regret

I feel like one of the most loved people in the world right now :)  After a solid month of birthday celebrations, I can honestly say I've never been happier.  Here's what happened...

May 21st... most amazing birthday surprise party ever thrown by my loving family and friends.
June 13... TS/TP Performance threw me a surprise party at work!
June 15... CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!! this was more a celebration of my last day in TS/TP Performance, but it brought a lot of people together at work and with my awesome balloons from Monday meant lots more bday wishes :)
June 16... Last of the 12 week Weight Loss Sessions at Merrimack Valley Chiropractice.  they had glutten free brownie muffins for me with the book the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf!
June 17... Night out in boston with fun sunglasses and great friends!
June 19... Actual birthday, spent the first half cheering on Crossfit Route 1 at the Regionals and afternoon bbq & movie with my family (also celebrated fathers day :))
June 20... New group (Advanced TS/TP Performance) welcomed me in with a birthday cake!

At each one of these events I was told to make a wish.  There are lots of things that I could have wished for, but each time all that I could think was to enjoy the moment!  Somewhere in the past 6 months, I've stopped wishing for things and started making things happen.  I feel that I'm in a very honest place in my life where everything makes sense.  I know what to do to get what I want, and I'm doing it!  Plus after a month of people showing me soooo much love, I feel on top of the world!

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this awesome frame of mind and helped me celebrate the start of a new decade in my life!

Ever notice that there are certain things you never regret doing... but usually regret not doing?  There are many things that come to mind like...
- Showering... always feel better clean
- Going to bed early... your body thanks you for the extra rest
- Laundry... nothing like not having to dig through the basket to find something decent enough to wear
- Doing the dishes right away, or picking up at the end of a party... The next day is just so much worse
- Cleaning in general
- Stretching before AND after a workout
- EATING PALEO

Crossfit

Growing up I defined myself as a team athlete.  Didn't know what else to do when I got to college, so I started running.  Before I knew it I defined myself as a marathoner.  Just over 6 months ago I checked out Crossfit Route 1... and now I'm a crossfitter that loves to run.  I do make the distinction with the running, because most crossfitters don't like running.  In fact, when I first started one of my goals was to improve my running from crossfit.  The person I was telling this to started laughing because she only ran to improve her crossfit!  It doesn't matter what your goal is... the outcome is the same.  Crossfit will improve your strength and health more than you'd ever imagine.

CrossFit as defined by Wikipedia:
CrossFit is a strength and conditioning brand which combines weightlifting, sprinting, and gymnastics, powerlifting, kettlebell training, plyometrics, rowing, and medicine ball training.^[1] CrossFit contends that a healthy, fit person requires proficiency in each of ten general physical skills: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy.^[2] It defines fitness as increased work capacity across all these domains and says its program achieves this by provoking neurologic and hormonal adaptations across all metabolic pathways.

CrossFit as defined by Jenny:
It is a group workout that can be modified for any fitness level.  You warm up together and learn a skill for the day.  The skills are based around lifts or bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or L-sits.  Once you learn the skill you add weight and enter the strength portion of the work out.  Usually you lift heavy for short reps.  Then it's time for the "fun" with the daily WOD (Work Out of the Day).  This can be a combination of anything usually lasting between 10-20minutes.  The WOD I did last night was...

8 Min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
16 weighted lunges (15# overhead)
10 Toes to Bar (I modified this to laying on the floor and raising my legs up high to get a good core workout)

At the end of 8 minutes I had completed 4 rounds plus 16 lunges.  The next time we do this WOD, I'll look back in my journal to see how I have improved!

There are WODs that are very well known that are labeled with Girls' Names.  When there's a girl's name on the board, it's never good.  The one that stands out the most in my mind is Angie. 

Angie
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit ups
100 Squats

We did this WOD at the beginning and end of the Paleo Challenge this winter.  I used the same modifications both times and was able to improve my time by almost 4 minutes!!!

I've wanted to mention my "teammates" through this whole blog, but we're technically not a team.  We are a community though.  I go to crossfit knowing I'll be working out side by side with many different levels of athletes, but that they all are there to improve themselves.  If you're pushing through a heavy lift, someone will cheer you on.  If you just accomplished a goal, you'll get high fives from everyone in the room.  If you're the last to finish a WOD, everyone will be there cheering you on and work with you to the end.  This is not your normal gym where everyone has tunnel vision and you have no idea who you're working out to.  This is a family that wants you to succeed and be there for you on the journey. 

If you google Crossfit, there are tons of videos and descriptions out there.  Some of them are very intimidating.  What I want to get across through this blog is that EVERYTHING IS MODIFYABLE.  The people you see online are at the top level of Crossfitters.  They have worked a long time to be able to do what they do.  With that said, one day I want to be there and I will.  I've posted a video below to show some awesome Crossfit women that are out there today!



Another great blog to read that has a very clear description of crossfit is http://fitnessista.com/2011/05/focus-on-crossfit/.  Thank you Caitlin for passing that along to me!

The Sun is Shining!!!

I would like to start by thanking everyone who has sent me so many thoughtful messages about my last few posts.  The past couple weeks were tough for me, but I'm finally feeling like myself again!  I know this is going to be really corny... but I literally feel like my inner sunshine is back on again :) 

I'm very proud that I've been able to bounce back in two weeks.  I'm really getting excited about starting my new role at work.  I'm still sad about leaving my current group, but I'm no longer depressed when I think about it.  I'm just going to have to organizing more section level events to buddy up with them for ;).  I've had some great contacts with my Pampered Chef business and looking forward to a fun summer ice cream social party Friday night!  My Boston Run to Remember Team in Training Team successfully completed their 5 mile race on Sunday!  It was awesome coaching them along the course and celebrating at the finish line.

I'm finally back in control of my food and snacking and I'm on day 2 of no processed chocolate/sugar.  I'm feeling amazing at Crossfit (mainly because my diet is back on track).  I did a workout last week after eating a slice of pizza... The note in my journal was "sucky."  I remember really struggling through my back squats and at the time couldn't figure out why they were so tough.  Yesterday I did back squats again... similar weight and it was a ton easier and was able to do more.  Kendra pointed out the food quality difference before the workout.  This is another great reason to keep a food journal :)  Tonight I did my FIRST pull-up using the green resistance band!!!  I'm getting closer and closer to getting rid of the band, but one step at a time.  Next goal is to use the blue band :)

Tonight I wanted to share the most amazing new Paleo recipe discovery.... Carrot Banana Muffins!

They are 100% Paleo and taste amazing.  My roomie Maria even enjoyed them and couldn't believe there was no added sugar!

Here is the recipe for your enjoyment :)

Carrot Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 3 ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
• ¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped
• Muffin paper liners

Instructions

1.      In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon

2.      In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil

3.      Transfer mixture to a large bowl

4.      Blend dry mixture into wet until thoroughly combined

5.      Fold in carrots and walnuts

6.      Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins

7.      Bake at 350° for 25 minutes

Makes 18 muffins

Fear can be paralyzing… or fattening

I had a rough food day today.  Sugar is my kryptonite and there was plenty of it in shape of cookies and chocolate.  At first I was really down on myself for letting it get the best of me, and then I started to try and figure out why today was any different than yesterday or the days before.  At first I was thinking how I was in a daylong meeting and the food was just sitting in front of me, but I’ve had plenty of meetings like that in the past 5 months that I made it through with flying colors.  I realized my problem was fear.

Not a physical fear like fear of spiders, germs or heights that a lot of people experience.  It’s a fear of change.  I’ve written about my tough week last week and how I was working through it, but that was on the intellectual side of my brain.  I was still feeling a lot of anxiety, so I went and talked with a counselor to try and get some tools to help me emotionally cope with the change.  I learned something very interesting… This is the first major change in my life that I didn’t plan out or see coming.  I’m petrified of what’s on the other side of this change.  I’m excited for it as far as career opportunities, but how am I going to fit in with this new group, am I going to like my new projects, am I going to be able to be myself?  These are all worries that logic cannot answer.

I have been so consumed with working through this change at work to address this fear, that the rest of my life has been paralyzed.  I’ve been slacking on everything I want to do for Pampered Chef.  This means I don’t have the number of shows booked, or sales that I want.  (If you want to help me with this, feel free to order at www.pamperedchef.biz/jprug :)).  I’ve also slowed my motivation to keep to my Paleo way of living.  I’ve been slacking with allowing chocolate in and then today, BAM.  The sugar just got the best of me.

So what am I going to do?  Be mindful.  One of the new tools I’ve learned is to just take a few times a day to be mindful.  That’s when you focus on only what you’re doing in that very moment.  How many times do you eat dinner in front of the TV, or eat lunch while working, or read while working out at the gym.  I already do this at Crossfit.  The only way to make it through the WODs (workout of the day) is to be focused on every movement I need to make with the proper form.  I always feel exhausted, but calm after these workouts.  My body is at peace.  Now I’m going to pick 3 more times during the day to be mindful.  I already know that one of these times is going to be at lunch tomorrow!

I love my sister :)

I love my sister, mommy, daddy, erin, ryan... and the list goes on to everyone in my family and all of my friends!!!  After a rough emotional week, I decided to treat myself to a massage before heading home to celebrate my brother's birthday.  On my way home, I received a call from my sister saying my cousin was about to leave for the prom and wanted to know how far away I was to know if she should wait to leave.  I was close and really excited to see her all dressed up!  I'm pulling down my parents' street and see a group of people hanging out in the yard.  I started thinking that it was a lot of people to be there for just a quick stop before the prom... and then I saw my friend Ryan.

IT WAS A SURPRISE 30TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!

I started actually looking at all the people in the crowd and it was all my "Boston" friends, Jaclyn had flown up from Florida, Natalie, family friends, and lots of family!!!!  I was showered with confetti, hugs, and handed a Harpoon IPA.  I thought it couldn't get any better until my 5 year old nephew came over and asked if I wanted to go play in the bouncy house.  I HAD A BOUNCY OBSTACLE COURSE IN THE BACKYARD!!!!

At some point my car started to roll... In all the excitement, I had left my car in 3rd without the E-brake on... oops.  Good news is, I stopped it before it made it to the garage door!

I was on cloud 9, and I think I still am.  There was so much to take in and enjoy I truly felt loved.  There was Jenny Trivia, water balloon toss, obstacle course races, an awesome video collage from Erin, and lots of food!  I wasn't a perfect Paleo girl, but this was one of those life moments, that I wasn't going to feel guilty over it.  Chicken even got to enjoy in the fun and got a new outfit!

My family had planned an amazing Paleo feast of grilled chicken, salad, fruit salad... plus some other bbq basics for the non-paleos.  My friends were so proud they were eating Paleo, it was great to have them realize it's not so hard!  Then my cake came out.... My favorite cake in the whole wide world... yellow with a million strawberries on it :)

I did manage to have a small piece with extra strawberries, and it was just what I wanted.  When all was said and done... I had some cake, beer, and a glass of red wine.  Naturally I didn't feel 100% after, but I also didn't feel deprived.  I know that tomorrow is a new day and I'll be back on track without much thought or effort.  I also discovered that my friend Jaclyn from Florida has also being living the Paleo Lifestyle!  It was great to be able to share that with her and hear how awesome she's feeling!  Next step is getting her into a Crossfit gym, which I know she'll kick ass at!  She's planning on checking it out after completing her first Triathlon in June.  Check us out doing handstands with the bouncy house!

So here I am... less than a month from my real 30th birthday.  I feel amazing enough to dash through the obstacle course a million times, do handstands, have water balloon fights, enjoy yummy food, and be emotionally aware enough to feel the love from every direction.  I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family.  Even felt the love through text message and passed along word from those who couldn't attend!  A special thanks to my sister Chrissy, who I know was the master mind behind this bash.  I'm so impressed you started planning in February and I had NO IDEA!

Thank you and love you!

Pictures from the Day!

Paleo Lifestyle

Some how I've made it through this very emotional week on track with my eating!  I love the Paleo lifestyle.  6 months ago, this week would have been filled with pizza, ice cream, and chocolate.  My body didn't want it though, and it was easy for me to continue eating healthy!

For those of you not familiar with the term "Paleo," it's also referred to as the Caveman diet.  Basically, anything I caveman would have eaten is fair game.  Rule of thumb is if it doesn't grow from the ground, have a mother, or a face then DO NOT EAT IT!  There's tons of information out on the web about this lifestyle, so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but after living this way for just over 5 months I'm down 38lbs and feel amazing.  I've started to really see food as fuel.  I can recognize when I need more protein or healthy fats to keep me satisfied.  I'm not consistently thinking about what I'm going to eat next, or how many calories it is.... OHHHHH, that's the BEST part of Paleo.  I have NOT counted one stupid calorie since eating this way.  That's right... down 38lbs and NO CALORIE counting.  I do keep a food journal, but that just has my thoughts and feelings (sometimes pictures) about what I eat and why.  It's a great release for me, and it allows me to go back and make connections to how I was feeling and what "fuel" my body was running on.

Great thing about the Paleo lifestyle is that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing.  I haven't given up chocolate... but I am working to reduce my intake just for special occasions.  Same with alcohol... I do love a good Harpoon IPA :)  I plan out my events when I get to enjoy an IPA treat.  This past weekend was the 4th Annual Wig Night Out!  It's a fabulous bar crawl that you get to dress up and have fun.  I was careful with the amount of beer I drank, and was still able to have a fantastic time!  I actually went home and drank a protein shake before going too bed.  I could only think about Kendra's Teeter Totter, and that I had way to many carbs in my body and I needed to even it out with protein!  For those of you who haven't gotten the 411 on the Teeter Totter... don't worry it's coming :)

I'm so happy I gave this lifestyle a shot and learned what's really going on in my body when I eat.  More to come on what I'm actually eating on a daily basis, but for now check out http://www.marksdailyapple.com/.  He's got a lot of great information on what he calls "Primal Living." 

Interested in learning more about Wig Night Out, check out our website!  http://www.wignightout.com/

Significant Life events at 8am Monday morning

Well... didn't expect to be writing today, but this blog is about my life and it's ups and downs.  At 8am this morning (yes I actually made it to work that early) my manager brought me into his office and shut the door... never a good sign unless it's salary action time (it wasn't). 

Turns out they had decided to reorganize my subsection and I was getting moved to a different group.  My jaw dropped, I said "I think I'm going to cry," and then I cried.  To say I'm an emotional person is a huge understatement.  The move is not necessarily a bad one.  There is lots of great work in the new group, but I wasn't prepared to leave my "family."  I joined GE Aviation because of this group.  I always saw myself working in this group until I was ready to move into a more business type role.  I know they will always be there for me and invite me to group events, but it's just not the same.  I feel like I'm being kidnapped and it was my parents idea.

As the day went on and even now I'm sorting through my emotions and trying to get a grasp on what this means and what opportunities it opens.  In the mean time, I started to think about how I reacted.  A coworker mentioned she wish she had chocolate to give me.  It took me back a minute, because 6 months ago I just would have gone to the vending machine and gotten a candy bar and the cupcakes that probably have been in there for centuries.  I didn't want to though, the idea of it made me sick.  I'm very lucky that my amazing friend Alissa recognized that I needed to get off site for lunch and we enjoyed a nice lunch at Tides... Steak tips and broccoli :)  soooo yummy.  It was just the break I needed.

I wasn't very focused at work and knew I needed to move my body to release the pent up frustration.  Left work a bit early and went over the gym where I ran, beat up a punching bag, and did some pull ups/dips.  From there I went to Crossfit to make sure I had absolutely no energy left... and succeeded.  Sitting here right now, I feel good about myself.  To say that at the end of a very emotional day is very surprising and exciting for me.  It also helps that I came home to all your great feed back from my first post.  Thank you for your support it means a lot to me, especially on a day like today! 

First of Many (I promise the rest won't be this long)

Welcome to what I'm hoping will be a fun way to share my story and maybe teach someone something new :)  For those of you who don't know me, I've put a brief description of what I do on the side.  This blog is more about who I am, so to start things off I'll share a little history :)

The one word that most people use to describe me is loud... oh wait, I meant to say energetic.  Truth is, I'm both.  When I was younger my Dad always called me Tigger because I would bounce all over the place.  Growing up I loved sports, tap dance, and camping with the family.  By high school I was playing basketball year round and managed to squeeze in soccer, softball, track & field, marching band, jazz band, student council... the list could go on.  I am your typical Type A personality that wants to do it all.  The one thing I was never able to do was keep my weight in check.  I was always self conscious of it, even when I was wearing a size 12 freshman year, I thought I was huge.  I didn't let that hold me back with sports though.  I played with the confidence I could do anything and I loved it!

I went to college at Northeastern University for Mechanical Engineering.  I loved studying topics that actually appealed to me and doing co-op rotations at GE Aviation.  The only thing that was still out of place was doing something about my weight.  After traveling to London on spring break to visit a friend, I was totally inspired.  She had lost 60lbs since I'd seen her last and looked amazing.  I came home a new person.  Instantly signed up for Weight Watchers and started to hit the gym 2 hours a day during the week.  It took about 8 months to lose almost 50lbs and I was at my smallest ever and wearing a size 8!  It was great to go shopping with my roomies and feel good about how clothes were fitting. 

I now felt like I could finally do some things I always thought would be impossible.  Top on the list was run a marathon!  I hated running in high school, but at the gym that's all I knew how to do.  I signed up with Team in Training to run the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2005.  I trained and fundraised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with my roommate.  We graduated that December and 2 weeks later ran our first marathon together!  I was almost in tears crossing the finish line... not from the pain, or the heat, but from the pride I had in myself for that accomplishment and helping an organization that was bigger than me.

Unfortunately, my size and running took a hit fairly soon after that.  I had some knee problems after the race which cut my exercise routine drastically.  I was upset so I would turn to food.  I was eating the foods that were higher in Weight Watchers points because I wouldn't let myself eat them before.  It was the beginning of a downward spiral.  Food quickly turned into a love/hate relationship.  No matter how hard I tried with exercise and getting back "on the wagon," I always seem to fall short.  I managed to not only gain back the weight I lost, but gained twice the amount.  I was disgusted with myself.

During this time I started going to counseling to deal with all the emotions I was having with my weight, working full time, and handling stress.  It was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.  I think everyone should see a conselor at some point in their lives.  I really learned to except who I am and gained the tools to handle stresses in my life. 

So where does this get me... Still running and exercising a lot, still struggling with food and being overweight, but a lot happier with myself.  I was just missing something that would click in my head and align my physical body with my mental body.  In walks Kendra from Merrimack Valley Chiropractic to my life. 

I was very lucky to be doing a Pampered Chef table at a fair and was stationed right next to Kendra.  Throughout the night we talked about what they do at their office and how it was more than just chiropractic.  It sounded just like what I needed.  My hip had been really bothering me, so I knew I needed a chiropractor and the wellness programs they ran sounded like just the thing I needed to get on track.  I started treatment with them at the beginning of November 2010. 

Kendra and Dr. Ryan are two of the most in shape people I have ever met.  I started noticing all these people in their office that were in great shape and wearing Crossfit shirts.  I was intrigued and couldn't resist trying it out for myself.  At the beginning of December 2010 I went to my very first crossfit "on ramp" session at Crossfit Route 1.  I was instantly hooked.  Danny V was my trainer and I'll never forget him looking at me and stating I'll be able to do a pull up if I stick with it.  No one in my life ever gave me that much confidence that I would be able to do something that I thought was impossible. 

By the middle of December I was meeting weekly with Kendra to go over the food journal I started and was going to crossfit 3 times a week.  I was really starting to feel like I was heading in the right direction.  In January Crossfit Route 1 had a 2 month Paleo Challenge.  I was excited to participate and see how this would work for me.  I had already made most of the changes in my diet toward Paleo, I just needed to take it more seriously.  For those of you unfamiliar with Paleo it's also known as the caveman diet.  You basically eat only unprocessed foods... meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts.  Sounds limiting, but after working with Kendra and changing 1 meal a week to Paleo I really wasn't missing the other types of food.  Well with the exception of chocolate, but that's a different story.  I'll talk more about it in another blog and how it's changed my life.

The outcome of this challenge... I won 3 out of the 4 categories.  The most weight lost (23lbs), the highest points (earned when you eat paleo, get sleep, and exercise), and most strength improved.  The strength was measured with our Crossfit Total which is your max press, max squat, and max deadlift.  I improved my total by 180lbs!!!

I continue to live the Paleo lifestyle even after the challenge.  I feel a million times better than I ever have in my life.  Not just because of the weight loss, but my mood is just plain better!  To this date I have lost a total of 35lbs and I am so excited to keep going.  I read an interesting article posted by another crossfit affiliate about "Skinny Fat."  It truly inspired me and made me think about my journey differently.  I am not doing this just to lose weight.  I am doing this to improve my health, feel good about myself, and show the world how I view myself by taking off my fat jacket. :)

I hope the really long post didn't bore you.  My future ones will be much shorter... mainly because I don't have the time or energy to keep doing ones this long.  I felt it was important to get my full story out, so that you know where I'm coming from in my stories and how much this journey has been more a life time than just the past 5 months.  Below are before and after pictures of me.  I will continue to update the "after" picture, since it will continue to change as my journey goes on!